Two parents in Georgia have claimed they had no idea their baby had been decapitated at birth until three days after the devastating loss.
Mom Jessica Ross and her boyfriend, Treveon Isaiah Taylor Sr., prepared to welcome their child in July 2023 as Ross went into labor.
Her delivery began on the morning of 10 July at Southern Regional Medical Center in Riverdale, Georgia, but the baby's shoulders got stuck in the vaginal canal during delivery.
Tragically, the baby boy, Treveon Isaiah Taylor Jr., died during the delivery.
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One month later, Ross filed a lawsuit against the hospital claiming the doctor 'failed to practice according to medical standards' and 'failed to do a Cesarean section in a timely and proper manner'.
They were accused of 'grossly' and 'negligently [having] applied excessive traction', and as a result, the lawsuit claimed, the child was decapitated.
The hospital denied at the time that it had attempted to conceal the manner of death from the parents, but the family’s attorneys, Cory Lynch and Roderick Edmond, have claimed to People that staff did not explain the baby had been decapitated.
Lynch claimed it wasn't until three days later, when Willie A. Watkins Funeral Home informed both the parents and the medical examiner’s office about the state of the remains, that they learned what had happened.
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“They were unaware, they were told that the baby didn’t make it,” Lynch claimed. “They were not told of the condition of the body.”
Edmond, who'd previously practiced medicine as a medical doctor himself, claimed the doctor at the hospital 'specifically withheld' information about the decapitation.
“It is completely unacceptable for the doctor to withhold information like this from patients at any point,” he said.
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Edmond went on to argue that 'the truth is the protocol'.
The lawyers spoke out about the case on Wednesday (7 February), after the Clayton County Medical Examiner’s Office ruled that the cause of death was homicide.
The examiner's office determined the death had occurred as a result of a complete severing of the baby’s upper cervical spine.
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During a press conference, Edmond reiterated a claim made in the earlier lawsuit, saying Ross and and Taylor Sr. had seen their child through a window when they asked to see him.
The baby had allegedly been wrapped up, with his head propped up.
The lawyers said the parents believe he was put in this position in an attempt to conceal the fact he had been decapitated.
At the press conference, Taylor Sr. said: "We just want justice for our son. They lied to us.”
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The medical examiner's office has clarified that 'homicide' means the death was 'caused by the actions of another person', and does not necessarily mean a crime was committed.
Edmond and Lynch have said their focus continues to be on the civil case after the medical examiner's ruling.
Southern Regional Medical Center has told CNN it could not comment on the case due to pending litigation.
UNILAD has contacted Southern Regional Medical Center for comment.
Emily Brown